


The Reveal Hypothesis

by red_scully



Category: The Big Bang Theory (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-30
Updated: 2015-09-30
Packaged: 2018-04-24 04:26:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4905412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/red_scully/pseuds/red_scully
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three months is a long time for Penny and Sheldon to be left without Leonard.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Reveal Hypothesis

Act 1

\--

 

Sheldon was irritated.

Penny was in his apartment again, and he couldn't work out why. He hated not being able to work out why.

Leonard wasn't here; he had gone on what was sure to be a suicide mission, on a boat in the North Sea. He wouldn't be returning for 3 months. Sheldon very much hoped Penny wasn't going to sit in his apartment waiting for Leonard's return, because there was no way that he could tolerate her presence for that long. She was already dangerously close to gaining a strike, and it had only been two days.

Penny wasn't smart, but Sheldon was certain she understood how long 3 months was. That ruled out his initial hypothesis. So why, he wondered again, was she here? Sitting on his sofa, reading a magazine, drinking a glass of wine?

It occurred to him that perhaps he should just ask her, though he was sure it violated some social code or rule. On the other hand, he also believed it was rude to "outstay one's welcome", so he supposed the two would cancel each other out.

He cleared his throat and turned from his computer to survey her. She didn't look up until he pointedly cleared his throat.

"You ok, sweetie?" Sweetie. Forever calling him sweetie. It made him uncomfortable in a strange way that he had never been able to put his finger on; he longed for her to go back to cool indifference, as when they had first met.

"Penny, forgive me for asking, but I'm curious. What is the purpose of your visit today?"

A smile crept across her face and he was instantly relieved that he hadn't offended her. Angry Penny was impossible to speak to, although on the other hand, it probably would increase the chances of her leaving him alone.

"What do you mean, Sheldon? I'm just hanging out with you. You know, chillaxing."

He stared at her, desperately trying to make sense of this absurd sentence. "Penny, 'chillaxing' is not a real word. And furthermore, up until this moment we weren't even speaking to each other. I don't understand how this would provide you with the social interactions you always seem to crave."

She giggled and took a sip from her wine. "Oh Sheldon, you are such an oddball. Sometimes it's just nice to have company, even if you're not talking. It's less lonely."

Ah. It hadn't occurred to him that she might be lonely in Leonard's presence, but now that he considered it, it made sense. "I see. Well, I certainly hope you aren't expecting me to provide the same social interactions that you receive from Leonard."

"No, Sheldon, I'm not. Although, when you put it like that, I must admit it's hard to resist."

He opened his mouth to respond before realising this may be sarcasm; the wry smile on her face seemed to confirm it was a joke. He decided to humour her, since she was obviously suffering in Leonard's absence. He chuckled. "Ah yes, very amusing," he said, before turning back to his computer.

"Why don't you come and sit with me for a bit, sweetie? Thinking about it, it would be nice to chat to you." She patted his spot.

"Very well," he conceded. Leonard had implied that taking care of Penny was his responsibility for the next three months, and he supposed he could spend some time engaging in idle chit chat. He moved over to the couch and sank into his spot slowly, savouring its perfection. "Would you like to play 3D chess?"

Penny rolled her eyes. "Not right now. Let's just chat! How was your day?"

 

 

Act 2

\--

Penny was on her way home from the grocery store with what could only be referred to as a bag of shame. She missed Leonard, she had flunked another audition, and Sheldon was really, really trying her patience. She stood in the hallway between the two doors, willing herself to do the right thing and check in on him instead of going straight home, ripping off her sweaty clothes and laying in a pit of her own filth drinking wine and eating three bags of cheetos.

Fuck it. She wasn't his babysitter. She pulled out her key and opened the door, then dropped the bag and pulled her clammy sweater, shirt and bra over her head in one swift movement. The relief was exquisite: she closed her eyes and sighed as the slightly chilly air gave her goosebumps. She kicked the door closed behind her with a bang.

And then she heard Sheldon say, "Oh my!"

Her eyes flew open and she saw him on the couch, staring directly at her breasts. Her arms instinctively covered them, and she flushed violently with embarrassment. They stared at each other for a few long seconds before she regained her composure, and she saw how ridiculous the situation was, and then she laughed. Sheldon didn't seem to find it funny, though.

"Penny! Why... Penny!" He failed to form a sentence. His face was redder than she'd ever seen it before, his eyes wide, and he licked his lips.

Penny snorted. "Come on, Sheldon. You've seen me naked before!" She reached down to pick up her shirt again, and couldn't help but notice he actually peeked at her partially-revealed bosom as she pulled the shirt over her head. Huh. "Anyway, it's you. I don't think I need to worry about you leering at me."

But he WAS leering, she noticed. She felt very hot all of a sudden. This was way too weird.

She was standing in the living room just staring at him and she didn't know what to say. Clothed, she somehow felt more exposed because he wasn't speaking... just looking at her. Looking at her in a way that she had never, ever seen before. She shook her head to try and shake it off.

"Why are you in my apartment?" She demanded, suddenly marching towards the kitchen, trying to find something to do to occupy her hands. Wine. Yes. She opened the fridge and seized a bottle.

She turned, unscrewed the cap and poured into a nearby glass. He had not replied. Sheldon was never this quiet.

"Sheldon, what's going on?" She felt her voice was too high. She took a long cold mouthful of wine. It was a day old; slightly too acidic, it bit her throat on the way down, a sour, appley kiss.

He was fidgeting in his seat, fiddling with his hands. After a long moment, he turned to look at her. Quietly, he muttered, "I have to go." And he was gone.

Penny was left alone, feeling hot and confused and too freaked out to really consider what had just happened.

 

 

Act 3

\--

"Hello?"

Leonard's voice was barely discernible over the sound of what Sheldon very much hoped was just bad weather and not a Kraken emerging from the depths. He took a deep breath and spoke as loudly and clearly as possible into the receiver, enunciating every word.

"Leonard, you need to come home."

The sound of Leonard scoffing somehow made it down the crackly line.

"Sheldon, I am in the middle of the most important research trip of my life. I am not coming home!"

Sheldon felt a surge of anxiety coarse through him. It was ok: he was prepared for this. He could still get things fixed. He drew a deep breath. "You have to. There are no two ways about it. Penny needs you. I'm afraid in your absence, she has become increasingly lonely and desperate for male contact and you need to return at once."

There was a long pause, then the vibrating clang of metal striking metal. The weather sounds ceased: evidently Leonard had retreated inside the boat, which meant he was taking things seriously.

"Buddy, what are you talking about? Did something happen?"

Sheldon cleared his throat. "She keeps coming into our apartment. She sits on the couch when I'm working. She talks to me about pointless things such as reality television. She is useless at 3D chess and insists on drinking wine during her lessons, which makes her loud and clingy. And when I tried to turn the tables by going to sit in her apartment, she exposed her breasts to me!" He felt flustered anew telling this story and shifted uncomfortably in his spot. He was concentrating so hard, in fact, on controlling his physical arousal that he hardly heard Leonard's baffled blustering down the crackly line. When he did take a deep breath and zone back in, Leonard was mid-sentence.

"- misread the situation. I'll call Penny and talk to her. I seriously doubt that in the month I've been gone, my girlfriend has developed an all-consuming love for you. I know you miss me, buddy, but I'll be back soon enough, ok?"

He sighed and nodded, an altogether futile response to someone with whom he was conversing by telephone. "Very well. If you insist on letting your succubus of a girlfriend continue to attempt to charm me, then I have no choice but to deal with it myself. Goodbye."

As he hung up the phone he just heard Leonard's voice shouting, "wait, what does that mean?" before cutting him off.

He sighed once more. This situation displeased him greatly.

 

 

Act 4

\--

Penny hadn't seen or heard from Sheldon in over a week. She wondered whether he was ignoring her, or she was ignoring him: it was hard to tell. Leonard had mentioned when she last spoke to him that Doctor Whackadoodle had some mad idea that she was trying to seduce him, and she both wanted to confront him about it, and to ignore the entire thing. But Leonard had been obviously unnerved by this, despite it being utterly nuts, and the last thing she needed right now was for her paranoid boyfriend to have another thing to be paranoid about. He already struggled to trust her, which she knew was partly her own fault for being so crap at commitment, and this had the potential to push things over the edge into full-on crazy town. For god's sake. Beyond curiosity about exactly was under all those layers of clothing, and a slightly narcissistic and twisted desire to teach the man a thing or two about what she supposed he would call "base urges", there was nothing in her head about Sheldon.

Well, except the fairly obvious fact that he was packing extreme heat. She wasn't stupid.

Penny suddenly realised she'd been sat in her parked car for at least five minutes wrestling with these weird thoughts. She shook her head and climbed out of the car, almost making off without the groceries that were in the trunk. What was wrong with her today? One month without sex on tap and she started to lose it. Maybe Sheldon was onto something after all. Perhaps she was flirting with him on some demented, subconscious level.

She hauled the too-large bag of groceries up the stairs with one arm, phone in her other hand, checking her messages. An email from Leonard… asking her to check up on Doctor Crazy. Again. She sighed deeply as she reached the hallway between the apartments. She looked longingly at her own front door, and then to the boys'. What to do?

But before she could make a decision in either direction, it was made for her: Sheldon opened the door. "Penny, why are you loitering out here?" He looked at her with wide eyes, genuinely unable to evaluate the situation.

She resisted the urge to ask how he had known she was there. She supposed she'd get an answer about noise particles or air currents or some such thing that she didn't understand. She mustered up a bright smile from somewhere deep inside her, and said, "I was just thinking I should swing by and say hey. It's been a while since we last chatted."

He nodded. "I see. Well, your company would be acceptable. I have finished my work for the moment and would like to continue teaching you how to play 3D chess."

She watched him as he talked in that strange, formal way, hands clasped together in front of him, no emotion registering on his face. She wondered, constantly, what he was really thinking. Penny was normally great at reading men - mainly because they were almost always thinking about sex. Sheldon was a closed book. It drove her nuts.

"Tell you what, sweetie. I'll play 3D chess with you, if you have a drink with me." She breezed past him and pulled a bottle of Sav Blanc out of the grocery bag. The bottle had been chilled, and it slipped slightly in her fingers: luckily Sheldon didn't seem to notice her nearly drop it. She dumped the damp-bottomed paper bag onto the counter and fetched two glasses from the cabinet.

Sheldon nodded, again, so formal, and closed the door. He made straight for his spot. She felt a smile tug at the corner of her mouth as she poured the wine. Crazy or not, she was terribly fond of him. She ignored the other tug she vaguely felt elsewhere.

\--

Later, she stood in the doorway, engulfed in a hug from him, feeling terrible for mocking his YouTube confession. And yet despite upsetting him, now here they were, arms wrapped around each other, as intimate as knowing Sheldon Cooper can ever get. She felt a rush of affection which had nothing to do with the half glass of wine she'd had that evening.

She remembered he didn't know how long hugs were supposed to last, so after a few more oddly comfortable seconds she took the initiative and pulled gently away from him. He was looking at her strangely, again, and she recalled their encounter in her apartment a few weeks ago. It was time to confront him about it.

"Sweetie, I want to talk to you about something. Can we sit down again for a sec?" She was not going to drag this out. She just wanted it out and over.

They returned to the couch, bodies gently touching as they sat closer together than he would normally allow. She took a deep breath, emptied the contents of her glass into her mouth and swallowed hard. It was warm, had been sitting out for too long whilst they played chess and called Leonard and got angry at Leonard and shared secrets, and she'd forgotten it was there until now when she felt maybe she needed a little Dutch courage to do this.

"Ok," she started, then faltered. She poured herself a fresh glass and took a long drink. "Sweetie, I spoke to Leonard last week and he said you were under the impression that I'm attracted to you. He said you told him I flashed you. Look, what happened in my apartment was a total accident, I swear. I didn't know you were there. And anyway, you've seen my tits before so I didn't think it would bother you. So what's going on?"

He didn't answer her at once, and a thick silence gathered around them. Whilst she waited for him to find the right ten million words to spout, she took a sip of the warm wine, just for something to keep her hands busy. He eventually rose his eyes to meet hers and she noticed that his pupils were dilated: no doubt a result of the alcohol, she thought. She had a weird fascination with giving him booze, mainly because it stripped away all his formalities and made him seem... well, human, for lack of a better word.

"Penny, Leonard has been gone for seven weeks, two days and 16 hours. Now, due to my inability to find a decent pair of noise-cancelling headphones, I know the two of you engage in relations a minimum of 9 times a week-"

"Sheldon!" She gasped, blushing, it seemed, all over her entire body. He kept count?!

He carried on anyway. "Now, that means that you find yourself having missed roughly 65 sessions of coitus - and we both know, Penny, that when you go through a 'dry spell'" - he made air quotes with his fingers - "you start doing ridiculous things, like trying to open your front door with your car keys. Or coming into my bedroom in the middle of the night."

Oh god, THAT was where this came from? The whole Age Of Conan thing? Sure, she'd gone into his room a few times, including that one time when he didn't have any pyjama bottoms on, but she hadn't known that before she went in. Of course, she also hadn't left when he told her. Oh, crap.

Penny sighed. "Sheldon. Listen to me. You want me to say it? Yes, I'm having a hard time going without sex. And if I was single then yeah, by now I would have found a guy to do it with. But you do not need to worry here. I'm not gonna cheat on Leonard, and even if I was, I wouldn't be trying to sleep with you! You're super cute, ok, and you and I have chemistry, but you don't have a deal. And sweetie, I respect that. I promise." She took his hand, patted it in what she hoped was a friendly gesture. "Please stop worrying."

He was silent. And not looking at her. And, she noticed, still pink-cheeked. He lifted his almost-untouched glass of wine to his lips and took a tentative sip; she watched him squeeze his eyes closed. When he finally spoke, his voice was deeper than usual, had taken on a gravelly quality she was sure she had never heard before. He spoke slowly, calmly, lacking his usual rush to get as many words in as possible.

"Well, Penny, it's only fair that I share one last thing with you before we conclude our evening. I have several times overheard you and our group of mutual friends discussing the fact that I have, as you put it, 'no deal'. I wish to set the record straight. I have a deal, Penny, and I am not as inexperienced in such matters as I would have you all believe."

He was flushing violently now, hands trembling ever so slightly. He took another sip of wine, grimacing at the taste, and spoke once more. "I have in fact had several encounters in the realm of carnal relations."

Penny stared. She'd caught enough of the words to get the gist of what he was saying, but her brain could not process it. "What?"

He sighed. His hands trembled and he set the glass of wine carefully down, searching for words he knew she would understand. "Penny. I have had sex before on several occasions."

She stared. She was floored. Astounded, gobsmacked even. Was this an elaborate Bazinga? He didn't look like he was kidding, and the weird heat building between them told her he had never been more serious. She burned where his body touched hers. Bad, bad thoughts were in her head right now, terrible, irresistible urges building within her. Leaving was the only way out of this situation: Penny had to get out. Now.

"Ok, goodnight, sweetie." Without looking back, she fled to her apartment, slamming the door in her wake, to throw herself on her bed and hide her face in a pillow. What. The. Fuck. Just. Happened? It was as if the entire universe had just come undone before her eyes. An irresistible regret bubbled up from deep inside her. Sheldon wasn't asexual? And all this time, she had believed he was? And had brushed aside their chemistry, which sometimes blinded her with intensity, because she had thought he was oblivious to it?

But he wasn't.

And she'd sat there like an idiot, confessing that she had been attracted to him, admitting that in Leonard's absence she was climbing the walls with sexual frustration.

Embarrassment flushed through her like a fire. And yet, at the same time, she felt desire coiling inside her at the idea of Sheldon knowing about sex. In her dirty little dreams about him, he was always unsure and shy: the idea of him having actual skills both excited and terrified her. These thoughts did not belong in her head. She didn't want them in her head. She could NOT lay here in bed and get herself off thinking about her boyfriend's best friend. No, no, no, she told herself, even as her body hummed at the idea, even as she found herself reaching for the drawer where her vibrator lived -

Just then, the phone rang. She snatched it up from the floor, seeing it was Leonard calling. Thank god: if she could coax him into a session of phone sex, the whole situation could be dealt with and finished. "Leonard, honey, I'm so glad you called," she started, maybe a little louder than intended.

But Leonard was crying and grovelling.

 

 

Finally

\--

He picked up both empty glasses from the coffee table and carried them to the sink. His hands were still shaking, which filled him with dismay. Damn Penny, damn her for coming into his apartment, sharing her intimate thoughts and hugging him and giving him just enough alcohol to make him both bold and weak at once. Nobody else he'd met had such an ability to break through his carefully constructed walls, with the possible exception of Barry Kripke who managed to stir up all the rage he'd ever felt, mix it with all of his deeply buried insecurities and cause him to lose his temper every time they were forced to converse.

Penny, though, Penny touched nerves he had been sure had died many years ago, and that frightened him.

He massaged his temples: He was getting a headache. He poured a glass of water and downed it, then returned to his spot. But the throbbing wasn't coming from his head. He sighed heavily. It had been a mistake to admit to such things to her. This had been entirely the wrong way to deal with the situation and had not gone at all the way he had hoped it might. He rubbed his cock roughly a couple of times, hoping to take the edge off. Of course it didn't; it never did.

Resigned, he fell back against the cushions and unzipped his pants in order to relieve himself of the arousal that had been bugging him all evening. He could get it over and done with in approximately 4 minutes, he calculated, based on the level of his need (not as high as when she fell in the shower; higher than when he first met her), his temperature (the alcohol - and embarrassment - had increased blood flow to his skin, making him feel warmer even though he was not) and the mental image he had to work with (the way she'd gone red in the face and licked her lips when he confessed his secret to her). Four minutes of giving over to his animal side was worth it if he could regain his composure and get some sleep tonight.

\--

Across the hall, Penny threw her phone against the door, where it smashed into about fifteen pieces. Fuck Leonard. How could he do this to her? Leonard was meant to be the good guy, the one who loved her and always did the right thing even when she fucked things up. Leonard didn't kiss other women. Hell, other women didn't want to kiss Leonard. Ever. Penny was supposed to be the beautiful one, the one who screwed up, who screwed around, who put lust before love. This wasn't fair. She crawled off the bed, swiped the tears off of her cheeks and marched to the boys' apartment. She threw the door open and -

Oh Jesus.

Sheldon was still in his spot, but he wasn't playing 3D chess. No, he was - she couldn't quite believe what he was doing. Her gaze left his face, which was screwed up in pleasure, and landed squarely on his exposed dick.

Penny was sad and angry and lonely, and when a sharp jolt of desire run through her body at the sight of Sheldon getting himself off she lost her goddamned mind. Before she could stop herself, she was on him. His eyes flew open as she pressed her lips to his and straddled him, all sense and reason forgotten, and to her amazement he didn't protest or even speak, but tangled a hand in her hair and hungrily returned the kiss, his other hand running up her thigh, and before she knew what was happening he had pushed her underwear aside and slid two fingers into her and oh god, Penny shuddered at the exquisite feeling of being touched by this man after so many years of denying that she wanted it.

She writhed against him, feeling him beckon with those long fingers and hit her G-spot, and somewhere deep in the recesses of her mind she was amazed that he knew how to do this. His lips were on her neck now, his free hand running over her, and then with one swift movement he pushed himself inside of her and moved his wet fingers to her clit, and then it was all a shuddery sweaty blur of pure feeling as she came hard against him.

Panting hard, lightheaded from the orgasm, it took a moment for her to register that he was almost frantic beneath her, hands on her hips as he thrusted desperately into her, eyes wide open. For the first time in her life, Penny knew what Sheldon Cooper was thinking. She clambered out of his lap and grabbed his hand, and he stood, pulling his pants up frantically, trying not to lose balance. She marched them into his bedroom like she'd been doing it for years, as if he has never scolded her for entering without permission. He was right behind her, kicking the door closed a little harder than was necessary. The action figures on his dresser rattled and jumped off the wooden surface as he shoved her roughly onto the bed, quickly stripped, then climbed beside her, where she was peeling off her own sweaty shorts and vest with wildly shaking hands. He didn't seem to notice as she threw them onto the floor: no, Sheldon was on top of her, hot and heavy and smooth-skinned, his breath ragged in her ear, truly out of control in a way she had never dared imagine. He dragged her thighs apart and pressed his cock deeply into her, pinning her below him with a strength she had no idea he possessed. Penny lifted her legs up, around him, coaxing him a little further inside, his pubic bone pressing against her clit just right, sending spots across her vision and hot shivers through her, almost painfully sharp. The bed springs bit into her spine as he drove into her roughly and then to her astonishment he whispered her name, and pumped against her, all rhythm lost. And then just as suddenly as it had begun, it was over, and he was still, his long, lean body moulded to hers, his face buried in her hair. She ran a hand down his back, feeling pools of sweat collecting there, and tried to catch her breath. She felt him gradually soften and slip out of her. He sighed.

After what felt like years, he shifted to roll off and lay beside her, and raised his head to meet her eyes. She smiled at him. "You ok, sweetie?" He nodded.

For once, Sheldon Cooper was silent, and sweaty, and without excuses.

 

 

After

\--

Sheldon opened his eyes and squinted. The clock was blurry but he vaguely made out the time as 2.05am. He felt Penny's warm body pressed against his side, her chest rising and falling as she drew steady breaths. The smell of sweat and semen hung heavily in the air and he realised, with dismay, that they had not opened a window prior to their activities. He pondered the situation. Of his sexual encounters - of which there had been 9, the most recent being eight years ago - this had undoubtedly been the most enjoyable. The idea of engaging in intercourse with Penny again was, in fact, extremely appealing. He was surprised to find arousal growing anew within him at this idea: generally, a session of self-stimulation could hold him off for a week or more quite comfortably. Something was different about this, though. As he looked over her face in the semi-darkness, a chink of light from the streetlamp outside making its way through the trees outside the window and falling across her features, he realised for the first time in all the years of knowing her that not only was Penny attractive in a basic, carnal way, but she was actually quite, quite beautiful. There was a softness to her as she lay here, breathing gently against his collarbone. His arousal grew more uncomfortable; he shifted, and the movement stirred her awake. Drat.

But when she opened her eyes to look at him, he saw none of the anger he normally associated with waking up Penny before she was ready. Instead, she smiled sleepily at him, and then leaned up to kiss him slowly. She hummed softly into his mouth and ran a hand gently through his hair, and a warm bubble of pleasure rose within him, spreading through his body to his fingertips. A Penny who smiled, who didn't punch his throat when awoken, who no longer felt the need to chatter incessantly, and who made his chest feel tight with butterflies of excitement? Oh yes, Sheldon thought, as they fell into rhythm once more. He had dealt with the situation.

**Author's Note:**

> I very very rarely write anything that isn't X-Files fic, but this one would not get out of my head until I wrote it (and re-wrote it, and added to it, and carried on until it was happy). I hope I did the characters justice!


End file.
